loot, and someone else's WIPs

It started off innocently enough.... Another stash sale + a few free hours on a Saturday morning = me suckered in...

"Lucky" and "ecstatic" were overstating it a bit! There was the usual collection of "stuff" - some okay fabric, some crap fabric, some rulers, some bags of scraps, etc. I was chatting up the seller, and she said she had tried out quilting a few years back, and had taken a few classes, but never really got into it, so she was getting rid of everything. There were a couple quilt tops, and I suggested that if she wanted to donate them, I'd quilt them up and give them to Project Linus. She had never heard of the organization, but immediately said yes (I later learned she was a nurse, so no wonder!).

Then she asked if I knew anyone who could do some quilting for her, as she had one quilt top left that she loved and wanted to keep. I told her I could certainly ask around and find someone for her. She ran inside to get her card, and came back with the quilt. It had obviously been a while since she looked at it, because it turned out it had already been professionally quilted and trimmed up, and all it needed was binding. The words "Well, gosh - I can do that for ya!" were out of my mouth before I knew what I was saying! I was holding a little stack of fabric that I had picked out, and she asked if I wanted to swap that for the labor. Um..... Oh, what the heck! Sure. But then I was kicking myself all the way home. Was it really worth my time to bind a quilt for a few yards of fabric? Oh well, I would consider it a 'random act of kindness', and it would be all good.

And look how pretty her quilt was! After 5 years of WIP purgatory, it totally deserved to be out of that plastic bag and put to use!

It was about 72" square, and there was some of the border fabric in the bag with the quilt, so I just used that for the binding. Thankfully she was okay with having it machine stitched down in the back (no way I would have agreed to hand sewing - I'm not that crazy!), and it only took me about an hour and a half to get it finished. Yay for me! I should totally add this to my big list, just so I can cross it off! Finishing someone else's WIP should count! (Maybe double!) :-)

Later in the afternoon, I trundled back up to Woodinville to drop off the quilt. She was so pleased to have it back so soon, and she loved it! Yay!

You know that old saying 'no good deed goes unpunished"? With her garage sale over, she asked if I would like to take home all the remaining sewing stuff, to use or donate. And of course, I can't pass up an offer like that! It took me quite a while to sort through it all. But in the end, I ended up with several bags of non-cotton fabric to be donated or freecycled, plus all this loot:

A medium-sized cutting mat, some small rulers and a bunch of thread...

A small basted quilt (or table topper or wall hanging, maybe?), which I might donate to Project Linus (the colors aren't very child-friendly, so maybe not)...

A basted table runner. Not sure what the heck I'll do with this. At least the colors are more cheery. Maybe I can add some borders and turn it into a small quilt? There are some scraps of those fabrics left, but I'm not at all interested in making more of those blocks!

A mostly complete xmas-themed top (just needs some borders), about lap size. Definitely colorful enough for a PL quilt!

This flannel WIP, which I'll probably go ahead and finish up to donate. It has all the pieces, just needs a little more piecing. I do not love these colors, but it should be warm and snuggly anyway.

This WIP has a LOT of blocks, and only a few are sewn together. Again, I don't love the colors, but maybe it would be okay for an older boy. I'm not sure I want to spend the time it would take to finish this one up, so I might try to pass it off to someone else...

This project was either a kit, or only taken to the cutting stage. One block was finished, and one block was started, and that was it. I think it would be a piece of cake to turn this into a different design, like maybe a coin quilt. And it sure is colorful!

And lastly, some fabric. Some yardage of flannel...

And a bunch of fat quarters of flannel and a little homespun. There are multiples of each print, and I'm not sure they were meant to go together, so I'm not sure what to do with them.

Some coordinating FQ's...

And a pretty piece of silk.

Phew... Almost done. I'll spare you the photos of the stack of random fabrics and scraps, and show you just one more thing. There are 12 of these Trapunto blocks...

They are about 12" square, and each bird is outlined and stuffed. I think there are 2 each of 6 different scenes (or maybe 3 each of 4 scenes?).

I can't see these being used for a Project Linus quilt, and I won't use them myself. But I hate to think of all that work being wasted! So, if you want them, just leave me a comment! I'll even spring for the shipping (US only, please) to get them to a good home. :-) On the off chance that there's more than one taker, I'll draw a name in a couple days.